


The Long Road

by Ignicula



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Boredom, Fluff, M/M, Road Trips, Slight Background Existential Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23907238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignicula/pseuds/Ignicula
Summary: Kirito and Eugeo travel to Centoria. It's a lot more peaceful than either is expecting, and Kirito is somewhat bored. It's hard to stay bored for long when Eugeo is here.
Relationships: Eugeo/Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	The Long Road

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little thing I wrote instead of sleeping. Hope you enjoy.

Since the two cut down the Gigas Cedar and headed on their way to Centoria, Kirito has found himself with a lot of time to think, and thus he’s thought about a lot.

Coming to this world obviously happened after he was attacked by that laughing coffin member. He has no idea what happened to him after that aside from the feeling of his heart stopping.

He knows that artificial fluchtlights are created by making a scan of someone else’s soul - generally the soul of a newborn - and inserting them into The Underworld, but he also knows it’s possible to make a copy of a person who is older.

He doesn’t even know for certain if he is him, or if he’s one of these copies. He doesn’t think he is; the taboo index didn’t stop him from swiping an apple like it would have for any of them but it may just be a result of his own memories.

But with his pondering he’s come to accept one thing for certain: he cannot leave this world without help, cannot even know what’s going on outside. Until he figures that out for certain, he will live in this world as if he really was just a lost child of Vector, one of the residents of the underworld. He might as well enjoy this life while he has it; for all he knows it could be his last. There might not be any place left for him to log out to.

“Kirito, are you okay? You have a really serious look on your face.”

At the sound of his companion’s voice, he snaps out of his thoughts. The world instantly seems brighter as he does so, and he smiles. “Oh, don’t worry about it, I’m fine!” He looks up at the sun high above, squinting as he tries to judge the time. He’s not very good at judging time by the sun yet but considering this is how most people do it here he’d better get used to it. “You think we can stop for lunch soon?” 

“You’re always thinking with your stomach, aren’t you?” Eugeo jokes. “We’ve still got about two hours before noon.”  _ So I was way off. _

His stomach growls as if to prove Eugeo’s point and he grimaces, giving it a betrayed look. This prompts an amused laugh out of the sunny blond. “Looks like I was spot on. You think you’ll survive if we keep going?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll live,” he pouts before turning to Eugeo. “So, Eugeo, do you think we’ll meet anyone on the road?”

“It’s a long road,” Eugeo says, “and this particular region isn’t well-traveled. We’ll probably run into someone as we get closer to Centoria, but it’ll take a while until we make it to that point.”

Kirito sighs, folding his arms behind his head and looking about.  _ This isn’t the first time I’ve traveled like this; it was pretty much a given in SAO that a solo player would constantly be on the move, but there were always quests to go on and monsters to kill along the way. After that in ALO there was flying, and then we had constant monster and pvp fighting in GGO. Sword Art: Origin had plenty of combat as well. Here it’s just a normal road, no fighting to be had. _

It’s peaceful, and he can’t say he dislikes that peace. At the same time, however, it leaves him with absolutely  _ nothing to do. _

...Well, maybe not  _ nothing _ . Unlike in other games where he tends to play solo even if he has a large group of friends now, he has a constant travel companion now and bugging Eugeo hasn’t gotten boring just yet.

He drops his arms to his sides and glances at Eugeo, whose eyes have turned to their surroundings. As if knowing he’s being looked at even if he can’t see Kirito from his angle, he speaks up. “It’s different than I had expected.”

“How so?” Kirito asks, curious.

“Hmm… You just hear stories all the time of goblins or monsters sneaking in from the dark territory and attacking people on the road. I’d thought for certain we’d have to fight something on our way here, but instead it’s peaceful; almost like we never left Rulid.”

_ So I’m not the only one? _

He smirks and decides to tease Eugeo a bit, slinging an arm over his shoulder. “What’s wrong, Eugeo? Finally get out of Rulid only to realize the big world outside is too boring for you?”

“Wha…  _ boring _ ? I never said  _ boring _ ,” Eugeo argues. “What part of this place being peaceful is  _ boring  _ to you exactly?” He gives an exasperated sigh and a judging look in Kirito’s direction.

“Eh?”  _ Did that backfire on me? _

“...Seriously, where are you from?” Eugeo wonders. “It must’ve been quite the exciting place if you were expecting combat. Are you from the Dark Territory or something?”

“Um, well, I don’t  _ think  _ I’m from the dark territory,” It’s technically not a lie. He’ll be rather shocked if he finds out that he is. “I certainly  _ hope  _ I’m not.”

“We can hope,” Eugeo agrees. “Though at this point even if you do wind up being from the Dark territory it’s not like I’m going to go telling everyone.”

Kirito is truly touched. “You wouldn’t?” Kirito asks. 

“Of course not, who do you even take me for?” The black-haired boy yelps as he finds his cheeks pinched, the two stopping where they’re walking. “No way would I go and sell you out, especially not after all that’s happened.”

“Alright, alright! I understand, please let go now!”

Eugeo lets him go and Kirito backs up with a pout, rubbing his now-sore cheeks. “You’re mean.”

The blond just rolls his eyes teasingly. “Drama Queen.”

The conversation lapses into silence for a moment before Eugeo speaks up again. “Since we were speaking of your memories… has anything else struck you as familiar or odd?”

Aside from the weird way he thinks he should know Eugeo a lot better than he really does? “I’ve had some bits of deja-vu, but nothing important.”

“Deja-vu?” Eugeo asks.

Kirito pauses and decides to be honest. “I kind of feel like we’ve met before, but that’s not possible huh?”

Eugeo frowns. “Honestly I’ve been getting the same feeling, but I don’t remember ever seeing you before. Rulid doesn’t get visitors often and we’re a small town. Everyone knows everyone and we don’t get many visitors often so we remember the ones we meet quite well.”

“So we haven’t met.” Kirito tells himself that again. They  _ couldn’t  _ have met. 

“Yeah,” Eugeo agrees, even though doubt is clearly written on his features. “I’ve heard that a lot of people are like this; they feel like they’ve met someone before even if they haven’t. It’s strange but I guess not that weird.”

_ Strange and weird are synonymous though.  _ “You know you just contradicted yourself, right?”

“I…” Eugeo pauses to consider what he’s just said. “I did, didn’t I? I just can’t really think of a better way to word that.”

Kirito’s eyes drift to the long road ahead of them, then back up to the sun as his stomach takes a moment to remind him he’s hungry.  _ I wonder if it’s gotten any closer to noon yet… _

“I know you ate breakfast at the same time as me. How are you always hungry?” Eugeo asks.

_...If I’m still alive, then my body is probably hooked up to machinery. I haven’t actually fed myself a meal in all the time I’ve been here.  _ He knows better than that, though. “I feel like I’ve always been like this.”

“Like what? Like your stomach is a bottomless pit?”

Kirito laughs sheepishly. “I mean, not  _ bottomless _ , just… very deep.”

“You have a deep stomach.” Eugeo deadpans.

_ That sounds weird.  _ “Uh, erm, yes, I guess.” He replies. “Think we can take a break to eat lunch soon?”

“That means you’ll have to wait longer between lunch and dinner,” Eugeo reminds him. “Do you really think you can do it?”

“...Ugh.” He sighs in defeat. “Alright, I’ll wait.” His eyes drift across the landscape again. “When we stop for lunch, want to train some more?”

“Sure,” Eugeo says, “We need to practice as much as we can anyways if we’re planning to win the tournament in Centoria.”

“Yep!” He only thought to bring it up because he was bored but that’s also a good justification for practicing. “How are you getting used to the Blue Rose sword?”

“Well enough,” Eugeo replies. “...what about you? It can’t be easy trying to relearn everything after you’ve lost your memories. Your sword is easier to wield than mine, but…”

“I’m the one teaching you,” Kirito reminded him. “I’d say I remember how to fight well enough.”

“That’s true,” Eugeo agrees. His eyes drift to the covered shard of wood on Kirito’s back. “I hope that after we get to Centoria we can find a place to get that made into a good sword.”

“So do I,” Kirito agrees. He likes the idea of having a new sword, especially if it winds up being the same color as it is currently. Even in ALO his swords have tended to lose their theme of being black like his outfit, Excalibur especially throwing in a wedge even with its amazing stats. “I bet this’ll be a great sword once it’s forged.”

“I don’t think there’ll be enough for a greatsword,” Eugeo jokes, “but I agree that it’ll be an amazing weapon.”

Kirito pauses mid-step, then turns to glare at his friend with his mood falling flat. “...Ha ha, very funny Eugeo.”

The other snorts. “Your reaction certainly was. I’ll have to thank you for introducing me to these puns of yours; I’ll put them all to good u… Owwowwoww!”

This time it’s Kirito’s turn to grab at Eugeo’s cheeks, pulling at them. “That’s rather mean of you, Eugeo, thinking that killing the nice atmosphere we had going just so you could make a bad pun was funny.”

“Alright, alright! I won’t do it again!” Eugeo laughs, and Kirito sighs before he releases him. Eugeo rubs at his cheeks with a sigh. “You’re kind of mean.”

Kirito smirks back teasingly and quotes Eugeo to himself: “Drama queen.”

“I suppose I had that one coming,” Eugeo says after a pause. Kirito watches as his teal eyes sweep the road ahead of them. “We certainly have a long way left to go, don’t we?”

“You getting hungry too?” Kirito asks, almost hopeful.  _ If he is, we might get to eat sooner. _

“No, that’s just you.” Eugeo jokes. “It’s just… I’ve never really left Rulid before. I knew Centoria was a long way away, but it’s hard to believe just how far it really is.”

“That’s true,” Kirito says, turning to look ahead of them.

_ It’s a pretty long road,  _ he thinks, but as his eyes turn to his companion, he smiles;  _ but I doubt I’ll be bored along the way. So long as I have Eugeo here, there’s always something interesting to do. For the first time, I can honestly say I’ve found someone I wouldn’t mind travelling with for as long as I live… _

Where did  _ that  _ thought come from?

_ Oh well _ , he thinks as he walks slightly closer to Eugeo.  _ It’s a long way to Centoria. I can figure it out while we walk. _


End file.
